Yesterday I just had the chance to test a Mako board for about 1.5 hours.

Conditions: around 20 knots, lake champlain, so lot of chops and little waves.

I really like that board. It kills the chops incredibly. It turns on a dime, so you can easily carve the waves, jibe, switch side.

The board feel so light. I even had the impression when carrying it it is lighter that my Spleene 134.

The board only have fins in the middle, so on the first tack, I felt it was slipping a bit but I was told to egde to compensate.

Once you edge the board, it grabs to water well, can go upwind easy and becomes very maneuvrable. I feel it really help me to enjoy waves. May be I 'll be watching for a used one...

150x40 makes the board floats quick but not having heel fins, I doubt it would perform in light winds.

Just added: their website 2009 is now online www.oceanrodeo.com, new colors look great

Ocean Rodeo's proving ground and home is the Southwest Coast of Canada.
That's North of Caution and North of Slingshot :wink2:
Their products are great for rough conditions.
Choppy waves are a lot of what we get so the boards do well in it.
Very rough, shelly beaches is what we have so the kites are pretty bombproof ! This makes their kites great for land.

Different courses for different horses... I had a Mako 150x40 for a couple weeks. Didn't like it at all. I had heard so much good press about this board that I just had to get one. They were in such high demand that I had to literally beg and plead to get my hands on one (bought it direct from OR with the promise I could return it if I didn't like it) and then when I told OR I didn't like it they renigged on taking it back. Last product I'll ever buy from those *#@!s. Fortunately I found someone else who wanted it so I didn't loose too much on the deal. The board seemed super squirrely in any chop at all, and the pads (an 08 board, they've since gone to thicker pads) and the stiffness of the board was so bad, I literally couldn't walk for an entire day after a 2 hour session. I know a couple guys here on the banks who have tried them and the reaction was mixed. Some swear it's the best board they've ever ridden while others are like me and don't like it at all. Best advice I can give regarding this board is DO NOT buy this board without trying it first. It's definitely not for everyone.

I have a Mako and I really like it. It's fast, which the PL Arcs really like. I ride this thing like I ride a snowboard. Equal pressure on both feet instead of more on the back foot. You can even speed it up by leaning forward on your leading foot. It definatly rides different then a normal twintip but once you get it down, it's sweet. Carves hard and lots of fun. I have a CrazyFly AllAround as well and it's definatly a different ride, but for me, in a good way. It's a different board, so expect it to ride different then what you're used to.